Commentary: The Roadless Rule is under attack

When I draw a hunting tag, especially for elk, one of the first things I do is pull out a map. I look for public land – and then I look for roads, because that’s where the elk aren’t.

That’s because elk need food, water, and a secure place to bed – and that usually means being miles from any open roads. Want to fill your freezer? Find the roadless area.

The Roadless Rule was written for hunters like me. And for anglers – because roadless areas provide crucial native habitat, protecting fish that have never seen the inside of a hatchery.

For folks like me, being a sportsman isn’t a hobby – it’s who we are. My kids grew up eating from the land, and that requires knowing how to chase an elk or the right waters for fly fishing.

So when I tell you roadless areas – and everything depending on them – are under serious threat, hear me out.

For 25 years, the Roadless Rule has protected nearly 58 million acres – from the Appalachians to the Rockies, from the Croatan National Forest in North Carolina to the Ponderosa Pines of the Santa Fe National Forest in my home state. These are the backcountry places where we hunt, fish, and pass our traditions to the next generation.

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When the rule was first crafted, the Forest Service held more than 600 public meetings, including one I attended. Over 1.6 million comments poured in – more than 95% in favor. You could poll Americans on apple pie and not get that kind of consensus.

That support hasn’t changed. When the Trump Administration proposed repealing the rule in fall 2025, 625,000 people commented, with 99% opposed. Americans have been clear. Repeatedly. Across party lines.

So what’s the problem? Well, Senate Republicans just tucked a repeal of the Roadless Rule inside a bipartisan wildfire prevention bill. A Trojan Horse – because they know they’d lose if the public had a real say.

Their cover story is that the Roadless Rule blocks wildfire management. It doesn’t.

Eighty-five percent of wildfires are human-caused, and 78% of those ignite within half a mile of a road. More roads mean more fires – not fewer. The Forest Service’s own data shows roadless areas account for 34% of all fuel treatment activity while covering only 21% of national forest tree cover. We’ve treated over four million acres of hazardous fuels inside roadless areas without building permanent roads.

If Republicans cared about wildfire prevention, they’d tackle the Forest Service’s $10.8 billion maintenance backlog – more than half of it tied to roads already falling apart. We can’t maintain what we have. Building more would be reckless.

But this Trojan Horse was never about wildfire. It’s about handing public lands to extractive industry while cutting the rest of us out. Hunters and anglers alone generate $133 billion in annual economic output and 1.3 million jobs. The outdoor recreation economy tops $1 trillion a year. Fragment these places, and you don’t just lose the experience – you lose the economy.

Our public lands are the anvil on which our American identity is forged – the backcountry campsites, the wild trout streams, the elk country where we pass traditions from one generation to the next. Without the Roadless Rule, many of those places won’t survive.

This is one of the defining conservation fights of this Congress. Contact your senators and representatives. And when the next comment period is open, we need you to make your voice heard. Our public lands are OURS. Let’s keep it that way.

Sen. Heinrich (D-N.M.) is a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and an avid hunter and angler.

Editor’s note: Trout Unlimited has a “Take Action” page that makes it easy for the public to contact their representatives in Congress regarding the Roadless Rule. Visit that page by following the link above.